OPINION
Africa has an air pollution problem but lacks the data to tackle it
By Janine Wichmann
JANINE WICHMANN Associate Professor , University of Pretoria
A man burns rubbish on the side of a road in Dandora in Nairobi , Kenya . Reuters / Siegfried Modola
The World Health Organisation ( WHO ) recently launched BreatheLife , a campaign to make people more aware about the fact that air pollution – which it calls the invisible killer – is a major health and climate risk . “ Invisible ” may refer to the lack of awareness that air pollution is a major health risk . In fact , air pollution levels exceeding the WHO air quality guidelines are often very visible , particularly in developing countries . This is especially true for billions of people living in close contact with air pollution sources . Those who , for example , cook on inefficient stoves with fuels such as coal . Or live in an industrial area .
The WHO has air quality programmes for most of the world ’ s regions . These review the effects of air pollution on health and help countries develop sustainable air quality policies . But none exists for sub-Saharan Africa . It is not clear why . A possible explanation may be that environmental health risk factors are overshadowed by other risks like malnutrition , HIV , tuberculosis and malaria .
Despite this , we do know something about the continent ’ s air pollution levels . In the first major attempt to estimate the health and economic costs of air pollution in Africa , an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report found that air pollution in Africa already causes more premature deaths than unsafe water or childhood malnutrition . It warned that this could develop into a health and climate crisis .
But how bad are air pollution levels in Africa ? Which countries have the worst air pollution levels ?
20 Business Times Africa | 2016